


Passing the Metamorphing Baton

by Severely_Lupine



Series: Methos the Muggle [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Highlander: The Series
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Post-Canon, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-03
Updated: 2011-06-03
Packaged: 2017-10-20 02:33:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/207841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Severely_Lupine/pseuds/Severely_Lupine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three Immortals meet in a café . . . and only one of them knows why.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Passing the Metamorphing Baton

**Author's Note:**

  * For [VelvetMouse](https://archiveofourown.org/users/VelvetMouse/gifts).



> I have ignored the fact that pre-Immortals can’t have children. Because let's face it, Highlander canon isn't exactly airtight when it comes to the technicalities anyway.

“Tell me again why I shouldn’t cut your head off,” growled the man in the black duster.

“Oh, stuff it, Snape,” barked the woman with the purple plait. “None of them recognized me.”

“Can you be so sure? Your mother is no idiot, and—loathe as I am to admit it—Potter hasn’t survived this long by being unobservant.”

“I haven’t seen him in four years, thanks to you,” she snapped. “And my son only turns eleven once. He’ll be off to Hogwarts soon, and I don’t know if I’ll find any way to see him until he gets out, and he’ll be an adult by then.”

“What part of ‘no contact with your former life’ do you continue to fail to grasp?”

“Don’t give me that look. It’s easy for you. You don’t love anyone. You didn’t leave anyone behind.”

“If I had, I would have made a cleaner cut than you have.”

“Oh, yes, Severus Snape, the master of moving on!”

The dig hit its mark, and Snape’s face turned red. Tonks had been dead when Harry made the grand revelation about Snape’s love of Lily, but she’d read about it in _The Prophet_ afterward. That information, and Harry’s insistence that Snape had been a true hero after all, were largely responsible for her agreeing to allow Snape to mentor her into this Immortal life as he’d promised Dumbledore—and given the fact he’d only been Immortal for three years longer than she had (Voldemort having not been quite as forgiving upon his return as they’d been told at the time), she was surprised at his depth of knowledge on the subject. Even so, she’d figured she’d learned all she could from him after a couple years, but by that point they’d grown so used to each other that they continued to be companions. It was frustrating most of the time, but it was better than being alone, and she’d been an Auror long enough to know that when unknown enemies are after your head, it’s always good to have some backup.

“It was reckless!” he snapped back. “What do you think will happen if they realize you’re still alive?”

“They’ll be shocked, but eventually they’ll accept it. They’re my family.” This was an argument they’d had many times, but Tonks couldn’t help wishing things could be different.

“And would you hide out in your mother’s house until she and your son and everyone you know grew old and died? Would you really ask them to keep that lie for you? Knowledge of our existence can’t get out, Nymphadora; you know that.”

She did, and she hated that Snape was right, as he always was on this point. But it didn’t mean she wouldn’t use her shape-shifting abilities to play the clown at her son’s birthday party when she got the chance. And it was true that there had been a moment where her mother gave her an odd look when she was playing with Teddy—but it had been worth it.

The anger drained out of her. “He’s growing up so fast,” she said softly. “He’s starting to look so much like Remus.” Tears came to her eyes, as they always did when she thought of her late husband, wishing for the millionth time that it had been he who’d turned out to be Immortal like herself rather than Snape. She blinked the tears away quickly.

“It’s time we got out of England,” Snape said, pointedly ignoring her tears, which was the closest he ever came to showing her tenderness. “It was foolish of us to come back here. There are still any number of people who would recognize us.”

The next day, they were checking into a hotel in Paris. Neither of them were particularly wealthy, but they’d managed to hold down the occasional job enough to have money to live on. They had enough for a couple modest rooms for a few nights, but they’d need to find some kind of work and housing fairly quickly.

It was a rainy day, and both of them were wearing the dusters which Snape had told Tonks were the common outerwear among Immortals due to their ability to hide swords much more conveniently than any other types of coats. They’d both gotten swords, of course—simple fencing sabers which were light and easy to carry, especially with the addition of an Extension Charm on the inside pockets of the dusters. They carried their wands, too, but it was safer to pass themselves off as Muggles. If any other Immortals came to pick a fight, they would have the advantage if their enemy didn’t know of their full range of abilities.

So far, though they’d done some basic sword training, neither of them had had to use their blades in a fight. Tonks, for one, hope it stayed that way.

Which is why, when Snape led her into a sparsely-populated café for a bit of breakfast and she felt the tingling headacheyness that she felt every time Snape approached—only much, much stronger—she tensed and grabbed her wand in her pocket, ready to Disapparate if necessary.

“Snape,” she hissed, grabbing his arm, but he just kept walking forward, heading for a table in the corner where a young man who looked no older than Tonks still did was sipping a coffee and reading a very old book.

He set it aside and leaned back as Snape approached, tilting his head and saying, “Severus Snape. To what do I owe the pleasure?” His pleasant tone was laced with just enough irony that Tonks could tell this man had some acquaintance with Snape (since few people who actually knew Snape would ever seriously call his company a pleasure).

“Hello again, Adam,” Snape said stiffly—but it was the kind of stiffness she’d seen him use around other Order members, not around Death Eaters. Tonks relaxed a bit and left go of her wand, drawing her hand out of her pocket.

“You two know each other?” Tonks asked, surprised. Snape had given her to understand that pretty much all Immortals went around killing each other whenever possible. He hadn’t mentioned he’d had any friends among them.

“We met about fourteen years ago,” the man called Adam said, and Tonks read between the lines. Maybe this was the person who’d explained to Snape what he was after his first death. “Love the hair,” he said to her.

She had it in a green bob today. She smiled at him, beginning to hope that he really was as decent as he seemed. He didn’t seem like a guy she’d want to have to kill.

“Thanks,” she said. “I’m Tonks.”

A look of recognition crossed Adam’s face, but it was gone a second later. “Adam Pierson,” he said.

“Oh good, you’re hitting it off,” Snape said dryly, glancing surreptitiously around the room. “Try not to kill each other.”

Before Tonks could figure out what he meant by that, there was a loud pop and Snape was gone. Tonks looked back at Adam to see the man staring at the spot Snape had been with wide eyes. He recovered himself quickly and said, “Not one for long goodbyes, is he?”

Tonks was scowling. “He just abandoned me, didn’t he?” That just wasn’t right. It’s not as if they were bosom buddies or anything, but she’d always thought that when the time came, _she_ would leave _him_.

“It would seem so.”

“That wanker.”

“Hm.” Adam looked at her curiously. “So, you two weren’t . . . ?”

“What, me and Snape?” Tonks asked, the thought of what he was implying making her vaguely ill. “Not hardly. I’m not sure we could even be called friends. But he found me after I . . . well, after I died, and he taught me about what I was. What he knew of it, anyway.”

Adam looked thoughtful, and a smile spread over his face.

“What?”

“When Severus called me to meet me here this morning, he told me he had something for me. I thought it might be his way of luring me into a trap, but he hadn’t seemed the type to do that.”

“You mean what he had for you was me?”

Adam shrugged. “Looks that way, doesn’t it?”

Tonks bristled. “Bloody hell! Does he think he owns me, that he can just give me away?”

Adam chuckled. “I was his teacher, for a short time, anyway. I guess he thinks there’s something I can teach you, as well.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Like what?”

“You’re a witch, I assume?”

She nodded.

“As a witch you’ll need to hide what you are from other Immortals; most of us aren’t aware of the magical community. And as an Immortal, you’ll have to hide what you are from wizards. And if there are two things I know, it’s surviving—and keeping myself hidden.”

“I’m not exactly a novice in that department.” After a quick glance told her no one was looking their way, she looked at him and shifted her features slightly, changing her eyes from brown to violet and making her face look just a touch more like her mother’s.

Adam’s eyes lit up and he sat straight in his chair. “Okay. I’m intrigued.”

Tonks smiled. It had been a long time since she’d been able to impress someone with her shapeshifting. She wouldn’t learn until later just how long it had been since the man across from her had seen something totally new to him, or she’d have been even more pleased with herself.

“Does that mean you don’t mind me sticking around?” she asked. If Snape didn’t want her around, she’d hardly force herself on him. But it would be nice to have a friend—and someone to have her back—and this Adam fellow seemed to be the best lead she had in getting one.

“Does that mean you want to?”

“As long as you promise not to kill me.” She was only half-joking.

He laughed as if he hadn’t caught the half-serious part. “I’m meeting a friend later for some fencing practice. You’re welcome to come if you’d like.”

“Sounds fun,” she said, making note of the fact that he hadn’t promised not to kill her. She wondered if he was hiding something, or if that just wasn’t something Immortals could ever really promise each other.

“Watch yourself around him, though,” Adam warned.

“Why? Will _he_ try to kill me?”

“No,” said Adam, “but he might make you fall in love with him. The man has a way with women.”

Tonks laughed. “I think I’ll be okay. I’ve known a man or two like that. They’re not my type.”

Adam looked at her for a long moment, then seemed to come to a decision. “I think I like you, Nymphadora.”

She winced. “It’s Tonks, please. Snape only calls me by my first name because he knows it drives me mad.”

Adam smirked. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Tonks regretted saying so much, but then she saw the mischief in Adam’s eyes, and for a brief instant she was reminded of Remus in one of his more playful moods.

She grinned at him. “I think I like you too.”


End file.
